Douglas Fritz

A warning to the Big Seven Conference: Dobyns-Bennett is starting to look like the team that was so highly regarded in preseason circles.The Indians made 20 of 26 shots in the second half, and ran away from David Crockett 93-69 on Friday night in Jonesborough despite a career-high 41-point effort from Pioneers’ sophomore Patrick Good.D-B improved to 7-2 in league play and 12-8 overall while Crockett dropped to 5-5, 16-10.After a first half where Good basically kept up with the Indians, D-B reached a pace in the third quarter that was too steep for the Pioneers. The Indians scored 18 points in the first 3:15 of the quarter, and eventually totaled 29 with a dazzling display of teamwork and easy baskets.“It was up and down, and they may have gotten a little tired,” said Indians’ head coach Charlie Morgan. “And when you shoot the ball like that, it makes you look real good.”David Crockett head coach John Good had a different perspective, saying the Pioneers made things far too easy on the Indians.“They were shooting layups,” said Good. “When you shoot layups, you shoot a high percentage. We didn’t get back. They got a rebound, and it was one pass and up the floor. We were waiting to see what happened.”Unfortunately the Pioneers did the same thing on offense. Too many times it seemed like they just watched Patrick Good do his thing. John Good said Patrick’s teammates need to be willing to shoot more.On the flipside, Morgan credited his team’s defense.“Patrick got his points, but it’s a team game,” said Morgan. “We wanted to contain him and do a good job on the other four guys. And their second-leading scorer (Dustin Day) didn’t score.”Paul Gadson crushed the Pioneers in the paint, finishing with 24 points. Makale Foreman added 21 points while John Fulkerson totaled 16 and Ty’leke Love chipped in with 14.Good had 21 points in the first half and added 20 in the second half. He could have chased 50 points, but was only 7 of 15 from the foul line.D-B led 40-34 at halftime and opened the second half with a quick 7-2 spurt. Later they added a 9-0 run and suddenly it was 58-40.Crockett fought back to within 11 points early in the fourth quarter, but the Indians made 10 of 11 free throws to keep the Pioneers out of reach.John Good said the Indians are looking the part as the Big Seven’s best team.“Tennessee High would probably give a different assessment since they beat D-B,” said Good. “But (the Indians) have gone up another notch. Coach Morgan has them playing hard at the right time. That’s why he’s a great coach.”Said Morgan, “We had to take our knocks and bumps to get to where we are. But that’s part of a season. It’s all about the process.”

Dobyns-Bennett (girls) 63David Crockett 49

It didn’t end well, but Lady Pioneers’ head coach Will Conley said he saw some positives.“We played 29 minutes of really good ball,” said Conley. “We had three minutes, spread out through the game, where we made crucial mistakes.”Crockett pulled within five points at 48-43 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Lady Indians answered with two buckets from Sasha Morrisette and one from Alex Anderson and Crockett couldn’t recover.Cortney Depew led the Indians with 17 points while Brianna Patterson added 12. Madi Kilby chipped in with 11 and Morrisette totaled 10.The Lady Pioneers (2-8, 4-18) were led by Madison Grindstaff with 14 points while Kaley Persinger chipped in with 13.“Down here they’re not used to winning,” said Conley. “We just have to get that killer mentality. When they get that, watch out.”